Our state motto is "Forward," but Wisconsin is falling behind in the economic race to create jobs and raise family incomes.
We're lagging our own economic performance of the 1990s and losing ground to other states -- especially to other upper Midwest states such as Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.
This sobering assessment transcends the usually polarized debate in Madison. From the left, right and center, the view is equally grim.
From the left, the Center on Wisconsin Strategy published its annual report in late 2008 with this unhappy summary:
"The national economy has grown more rapidly than Wisconsin's, leaving the state's per capita income more than $2,500 behind the national [average]."
From the center, the non-partisan Competitive Wisconsin group reached a similar conclusion in its 2008 benchmark report: "Wisconsin has moved further away from the national average in per capita income, number of new jobs created and number of new private businesses."
From the right: In the 2009 Chief Executive Magazine survey of "best and worst states for business," Wisconsin ranked 43rd, down ten positions from 2007.
We are trailing most of the nation and our Midwestern neighbors.
Twenty-five years ago, Minnesota's economy was similar to Wisconsin's. Today, Minnesota's per capita income is nearly 20 percent greater than Wisconsin's -- $41,105 to the Dairy State's $36,272. Illinois also outshines us. Thanks to Chicago' economic clout, Illinois' per capital income hit $41,012 as of December 2007.
Iowa, meanwhile, has always been a favorite point of comparison for Wisconsin politicians. At least we beat Iowa! Or as John Norquist, Milwaukee's mayor during the 1990s, used to say: "Wisconsin without Milwaukee would be Iowa."
The surprise of the decade has been the growing strength of the Iowa economy -- and the weakening of Wisconsin's.
Iowa's per capita income at $34,916 is actually lower than Wisconsin's, but Iowa experienced three times the job growth as Wisconsin from 2006 to 2008 and 70 percent greater economic growth.
Not surprisingly, various business climate surveys show Iowa's ranking far higher than Wisconsin's.
Iowa's recent success is instructive. Iowa retained an independent national consultant, Battelle Memorial Institute, to assess its economy. Then Iowa implemented a clear "cluster" economic development strategy.
Iowa colleges have plotted their program growth and faculty recruitment to the state's economic plan. Iowa has spent its economic development dollars on industries with growth potential, while Wisconsin spends its dollars trying to preserve the past.
The largest Iowa economic development incentive was given to IBM, for a new facility with 1,300 employees. Wisconsin's largest incentive was given to General Motors in a failed attempt to retain the Janesville plant.
All this has taken a toll. Since 2005, Wisconsin's average wage has dropped nearly 4 percentage points to 85.6 percent of the national average -- roughly equal to wages in Alabama.
Some would have us believe Wisconsin, or at least Madison, is still prospering. But those pollyannas are using questionable unemployment data the Federal Reserve has publicly called "rosy or smoky" reporting.
Using the questionable numbers, Money Magazine recently ranked Madison as No. 2 in the country for job prospects. But a similar Yahoo/Forbes Magazine ranking of "Best Cities for Jobs" used actual job growth in its calculation and ranked Madison 158th -- the lowest of any Big Ten campus community outside of highly distressed Michigan.
We see a series of mistakes underlying the state's fall from prosperity, including lack of focus, failure to advance a comprehensive marketing program, a propensity to fudge or ignore bad news, a lack of urgency and, finally, a poor business climate.
Turning things around will require facing a cold, hard reality: Wisconsin is falling behind. Our economy is suffering and so are our citizens. We need to build a more competitive economy or reconcile ourselves to becoming the Alabama of the north.
Hefty is retired CEO of Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Wisconsin and co-chaired Gov. Jim Doyle's Economic Growth Council from 2003 to 2005. Torinus Jr. is president of Serigraph Inc. in West Bend. More detail on their conclusions can be found at www.WPRI.org
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